


A Squib At Hogwarts

by inspiritedmama



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-12
Updated: 2014-03-20
Packaged: 2018-01-12 02:06:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1180625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inspiritedmama/pseuds/inspiritedmama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A young squib girl from a powerful Russian wizard family receives a Hogwarts letter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my very first fanfic, it's been through a few changes so if you happen to see it posted slightly different elsewhere it's all good. I am hoping that I will one day finish the story as I do have a sequel planned! Comments are always appreciated, but please be nice!

**Chapter One - The Letter**

_Dear Anastacia,_

 

_We are pleased to offer you a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry..._

 

| 

   
  
---|---  
  
Stacia’s eyes filled with tears as the letter fluttered to the ground. This was too far, too cruel even for her brothers. Sven and Cristoff, twins two years older, took a sick kind of pleasure in tormenting their only sister. Already mischievous, Durmstrang had tainted their fun with a dark stain. It had been worse since they returned at the beginning of the summer from the Tri Wizard Tournament, suitcases overflowing with products from the Weasley twins. She did not dare take any offered sweet unless she was entirely certain it had been prepared by the cook. Her parents turned a blind eye to their torture. In fact, it could be said that Master and Missus Alexandrov turned a blind eye to anything that concerned their squib of a daughter.

 Most wizard children began exhibiting their powers at an early age. Certainly her brothers had enjoyed making their toys move on their own before they could walk. On the rare and terrifying occasion they managed to get their hands on a wand Stacia had learned to hide until it was confiscated.

 Stacia had not yet experienced one tiny jolt of magical power. Sven and Cristoff kept offering to throw her from one of the towers. They’d heard of a boy in England who suddenly manifested his powers after being dropped from a great height and felt certain this was the solution.

 As the days passed and still no letter arrived from Durmstrang she began to wonder if she should let them. Surely there must be magic in her somewhere? Afterall her family line was completely pure as her mother constantly reminded her. For weeks she fought back the bitter disappointment as her brothers prepared to leave once again for another year at wizard school while she was to remain at home with a private tutor.

 Rather than look at the letter she studied the owl that delivered it. It was beautiful and unlike any of the owls she had seen at the post office. She wondered where her brothers had managed to find it. The lengths they would go to torment her knew no limits. When it came to causing her pain nothing seemed too troublesome. She remembered the time they had Transfigured her dolls into spiders, or drawn her out behind the house claiming they’d seen a unicorn and then,

“Stacia?” A tall woman with dark purple robes and long black hair that fell over her shoulders to her waist swept into the room. “Ahh _dragotsennaya_ , what have those boys done now?” Her ice blue eyes fell onto the paper and she snatched it up and began reading. “Where did you get this?” Her voice was pinched and her fingers trembled slightly.

“An owl brought it.” Stacia handed Myleena the envelope and supply list. “I have no idea how they managed.”

Her tutor studied the letter and the seal carefully and then shook her head. “I do not believe they did. There is powerful magic in this paper. No, your brothers could not have done this.”

Stacia released the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “But, it can’t be. I mean, Hogwarts? I can’t, I’m not...”

Tucking the letter and list into a pocket of her robe Myleena pulled the little girl into her arms, her hands stroking her red curls. “I do not know. They say Albus Dumbledore is a very great wizard. _Maht_ met him once when she went to England. He gave her his seat on the Knight Bus. She said he was a very kind man. You could learn so much at his school my child.”

Myleena studied the girl standing in front of her. She had been hired to “discreetly” tutor a young girl from a wealthy wizard family after her eleventh birthday had passed without an invitation to study magic at Durmstrang. It had only been a month, but she had grown fond of her charge. It was difficult to watch the gradual separation from the rest of the family. After a letter had failed to appear with the twins they had given up hope. Yet now, she had been invited to study at Hogwarts. It made no sense, she could not fathom the reasons, and yet the letter was here. She straightened, a determination to see this girl off to study magic flowed through her. Whatever it took, she would make it happen.

“I guess, but it doesn’t matter... Mother and Father will never let me go. Not after last year.” Even here in Russia their world had changed after Harry Potter returned from the maze clutching the Triwizard Cup, and a body. The story of how he had dueled He Who Must Not Be Named and escaped had grown until Stacia was not sure what to believe. Durmstrang had been in an uproar after the students had returned without Master Karkarov. Her parents dismissed her concerns, telling her that the doings of wizards was something she did not have to worry about.

“I will take care of it. I do not know how this has happened but I feel that it must be so.” Stacia hugged the older woman tight, unable to form words. Myleena hugged her back, “Now go, prepare for dinner. Do not say anything.”

 Dinner, as always, was a formal affair. The dining hall was dim, lit only with a few candles. It was the sort of room one scarcely dared to speak in, and so they rarely exchanged a word with each other over an entire meal of three or four courses, which was not so different from any other time. Darkly colored tapestries depicting scenes from famous battles adorned the wall. Each featuring a notable member of the family and their contribution to wizard society. The Alexandrovs had a rich history of leading armies and conquering enemies, a history that Stacia was certain would end with her and her brothers. At least she hoped it would. She shivered to think of either one of them leading an army. It was almost certain it would not be for any sort of noble purpose.

Stacia kept stealing furtive glances at Myleena, waiting for her to bring up Hogwarts. It was difficult to keep her secret while her brothers talked almost non-stop about their impending return to Durmstrang. As the servants cleared the dessert plates Myleena cleared her throat and spoke,

“Master Alexandrov, I would like to take Anastacia to Magadan with me for the semester. It is my home as you know, many of my old teachers remain and I believe she would benefit greatly from studying abroad as it were.”

Stacia held her breath, before her father could answer her mother cut in.

“That is a wonderful suggestion! Mikhail and I were hoping to travel the western provinces. When Anastacia was not... well when it appeared we would have to take her with us...”

Over the last two years Irina had barely spoken to or about her daughter except to remark to her that no member of their family had even been born without magic as if the assertion would suddenly right the universe and the spark of magic would appear in her daughter. When that tactic failed she seemed to prefer pretending as though she did not have a daughter at all. On the rare occasions she did it was to bemoan something she had hoped to do "once all the children were in school." She rarely finished the sentence, instead she would trail off suggestively as she did now. Cris and Sven nudged each other and began to laugh. Stacia stared at the gold filigree pattern on her plate, blinking back the tears at the familiar pain. 

“When would you leave?” Mikhail sounded far less eager than his wife.

 “In the morning. I have already taken the liberty of making the necessary arrangements for our accommodations knowing that you would see the benefit of this opportunity. Anastacia, you would be best to retire early this evening. We will leave first thing in the morning.”

She had packed in no time, her mind having rehearsed this moment thousands of times in her dreams. Pacing her room she went over the necessities, unlike other students she would not be able to simply owl home for a forgotten item. Anything that did not make it into her trunk would have to remain until the summer holidays. She prayed that they would be able to come up with an excuse not to return for winter break. Satisfied that nothing vital remained she crawled under her covers and closed her eyes. Instead of falling asleep the supply list danced in front of her. A single line stood out from the rest, taunting her.

  _Students must have a wand_

 What would happen when they found out she couldn’t do magic?


	2. A Wand And A Cauldron

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stacia and Myleena enter Diagon Alley and begin to shop for her supply list. How can a squib possibly hope to get a wand?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please be gentle with me! This is my first fanfic, I am trying to keep everything as in-character as possible.
> 
> Reviews would be lovely!

Stacia gasped as they passed through the brick archway and entered Diagon Alley. A place like this was unheard of in Russia, where the witches and wizards lived in almost complete isolation from each other. Supplies, potions, and the like were all delivered via owl-order.

Scores of robed people hurried from one store to another, but Stacia hardly noticed them due to the turmoil that had been building since the previous evening.How was she going to get a wand? Unless she was mistaken that required some level of magical ability. Whatever wonderful mistake had resulted in a letter of acceptance to Hogwarts being addressed to her was sure to end the minute she tried to purchase a wand. Myleena must have known this, should know this, and yet she still continued to play along with the facade. Perhaps she knew and felt it was best to indulge the fantasy for a time.

"Alright, we have much to take care of dragotsennaya." Myleena's musical voice sounded pleased as she surveyed the supply list. "Thankfully your ahteyts supplied you with living expenses before we left. Gringotts is not the easiest place to navigate after last spring..." her voice faded away as a pair of teenagers in Slytherin colors looked at them.

They studied Stacia curiously before turning to each other and continuing their conversation. She looked after them, wondering for the first time what house she was to be sorted into. Slytherin perhaps? She shuddered at the thought, surely she would be in one of the others.

"What would you like to get first little Stacia? The wand perhaps?"

Her hopeless daydream was roughly forced back to reality. There was no use fretting about which house she would wind up in, not when it was all about to come crashing down around her. The moment she picked up a wand they would know her to be false. Stacia's stomach tightened and she felt her hands begin to tremble. She hoped her voice did not give her away as she responded,

"No, we are close to Potteridge's Cauldron Shop, let's start there!" She smiled her mind rapidly calculating and coming to a decision, she would stretch out today as much as she could. For one day she would be a normal magical daughter, a witch preparing for her first term at Hogwarts.

Stacia's smile grew as they left Potteridge's with a new pewter cauldron and headed towards Flourish and Blotts. As she tried to push her way past a witch selling charms and amulets she almost ran straight into a tall blond boy.

"Watch where you're going you little squib!" Stacia froze, she couldn't have been found out already, how could he know?

"Draco Malfoy! Watch your language, she clearly has a cauldron. You should be nicer to fellow students, she may be in Slytherin!"

Draco Malfoy, the Draco Malfoy? And Slytherin? Draco and his mother continued down the street. A sinking feeling settled back into Stacia's stomach. How could she worry about which house she was in when she wouldn't even make it that far? No, she would not. The rest of the day passed in a blur. Every time Myleena began to move in the direction of the wand shop Stacia artfully steered her to another item on the list.

To the cauldron a set of brass scales, crystal phials, and a telescope were quickly added. Despite the dire posters covering the window of every shop Stacia was fascinated. Nothing captivated her attention half so much as a beautiful purple phoenix quill in Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop. As they purchased a standard set of first year quills and parchment her eyes continually wandered back to the display. Biting back her disappointment as they left the shop she reproached herself. Today she was getting far more than she had ever imagined. A day as a normal eleven year old witch preparing for a term at Hogwarts was not something she expected to experience.

As they returned to the street Stacia almost sobbed. There was no more putting it off, no where else to go. The list was finished. Everything except the wand.

The sign for Ollivander's seemed to threaten her as they approached the rundown looking shop. A beautiful ash wood wand sat on a pillow in the window. Myleena seemed to sense her apprehension as they approached the door.

"My little dragotsennaya it is ok. Ollivander is the best wand maker in all of Europe, although do not let your brothers hear you say so. They swear Gregorovich has no rival. Here, take the purse, I will hold your cauldron and wait for you."

Before Stacia realized it she was standing inside the dusty shop being measured by a wild looking white haired man who spoke to himself under his breath without ceasing.

"Ahhh... you are a different little witch aren't you? No, no, that will not do..." His long bony fingers skimmed over the piles of boxes which seemed to cover every wall. He moved quickly around the small shop, rejecting each section of wands before he had even stood fully in front of them. Stacia could hardly keep the tears from coming. To distract herself she turned away from the pale eyed man and studied the wand in the front window.

On closer examination it was well worn, the wood did not appear finished. Without a thought she reached out and touched it. All of a sudden a warmth filled her. Her slender fingers wrapped around the rough wood and would not let go. Ollivander whirled around to face her, his wild eyes appearing astonished and pleased all at once.

"Of course... yes. That is perfectly sensible. A broken wand for the little witch. I can not of course charge you for it, no one else would have it. Take it and be on your way."

The last words were called over his shoulder as he disappeared into the back of the shop, his tape measure floating behind him.

Stacia stood holding the wand tightly for a full five minutes before she decided he was not joking and meant for her to take it. She had a wand. A real true magic wand. In her excitement she pushed his comment about it being broken into the back of her mind. This ratty slip of wp> The older woman beckoned her across the street.

"Myleena, he gave me a wand." Her voice held a note of reverent admiration for the last word, as though to say it in a normal voice would cause the beautiful illusion to break.

"Well of course he did child, that is what Ollivander's is for." Despite the words of confidence Myleena's brilliant green eyes shimmered with unshod tears. She was thrilled for her small friend.

"It is almost sunset, let us look quickly in this shop and then we must return to the Leaky Cauldron before the sun is gone. It is not safe." Stacia could only smile her agreement as she was led into the shop.

The next morning Stacia lay in bed with her eyes tightly closed. If the previous day was a dream she was not ready to let go of it just yet. She could hear Myleena moving about and sighed.

"Goodbye," she whispered and opened her eyes.


End file.
